Cognitive Resources and Leadership Performance: What About the Task Requirements?

Fred E. Fiedler made an important contribution in summarising and discussing the tricky relationships between test-intelligence, time in service, and perceived experience on the one side, and rated leadership performance on the other. Two strings of results seem to be of importance for improving our knowledge on these relationships: (1) test-intelligence correlates with rated performance especially in the case of low perceived stress, and experience especially in the case of high stress; (2) test-intelligence correlates with rated performance if the other resource, perceived experience, is low. Both strings of results may fit with our expectations. Nevertheless, some aspects of the problem might trouble some readers, for reasons that Fiedler is not responsible for. There seem to be at least three clusters of unfulfilled wishes within this topic of research: selection and operationalisation of variables; design; and task requirements and intelligence.     

社会认知复杂性的量化指标及其关系

在Kelly个人构念理论的基础上,Bieri提出用构念的分化程度衡量个体社会认知复杂性的思路,并具体用从不同构念上评价每个角色时评分的匹配个数作为复杂性的最化指标。此后,研究者从不同分析思路提出了一系列新的复杂性指标,如根据对构念的相关分析所得组内相关、RMS、SMC等,基于因素分析所得第一因素解释率、主要因素个数及其解释率等,冲突分析所得整体冲突百分比,此外还有MPP、LPP、ASO等各种Fiedler分数。本研究以402名初中一二年级青少年为被试。采用库格测验收集数据,以Gridstat4．0、Excel、SPSSl0．0等软件统计数据,分析了上述各种复杂性指标的内在关联,为同类研究选择使用这些指标提供了依据。     

Job Characteristics and Biases in Subordinates' Appraisals of Managers

This article develops a general model relating job characteristics to biases in the perception of managers' abilities. A 2 x 2 x 2 between-subjects design was used to vary managerial task complexity, subordinate task complexity, and managers' rates of giving orders. The subjects were 216 upper-level undergraduate students who were randomly assigned to 72 three-person groups. Relative, but not absolute, levels of task complexity biased subordinates' evaluations of managers. This finding is consistent with equity theory and with leadership theories that emphasize the relative contributions of leaders and group members. Procedures that increased order-giving increased subordinates' appraisals of managers when managers performed either relatively more or relatively less complex work than did subordinates, but had no effect under equal complexity conditions. The results are discussed in terms of leader-member exchange theories and contingency theories of leadership (Dienesch & Liden, 1986; Fiedler & Chemers, 1984; Graen, Novak, & Sommerkamp, 1982; Kerr & Jermier, 1978).     

The Contribution of Cognitive Resources and Leader Behavior to Organizational Performance1

A recently proposed cognitive resource theory of leadership effectiveness explicates the role of such cognitive variables as intellectual abilities, technical competence, and job-relevant knowledge (experience) in determining group performance. This paper reviews research showing that the leaders' intellectual abilities contribute to performance only when leaders are directive, do not experience stress, have supportive groups, and work on tasks which require intellectual effort.     

Small samples do not cause greater accuracy--but clear data may cause small samples: comment on Fiedler and Kareev (2006)

Fiedler and Kareev (2006) have claimed that taking a small sample of information (as opposed to a large one) can, in certain specific situations, lead to greater accuracy--beyond that gained by avoiding fatigue or overload. Specifically, they have argued that the propensity of small samples to provide more extreme evidence is sufficient to create an accuracy advantage in situations of high caution and uncertainty. However, a close examination of Fiedler and Kareev's experimental results does not reveal any strong reason to conclude that small samples can cause greater accuracy. We argue that the negative correlation between sample size and accuracy that they reported (found only for the second half of Experiment 1) is also consistent with mental fatigue and that their data in general are consistent with the causal structure opposite to the one they suggest: Rather than small samples causing clear data, early clear data may cause participants to stop sampling. More importantly, Experiment 2 provides unequivocal evidence that large samples result in greater accuracy; Fiedler and Kareev only found a small sample advantage here when they artificially reduced the data set. Finally, we examine the model that Fiedler and Kareev used; they surmised that decision makers operate with a fixed threshold independent of sample size. We discuss evidence for an alternative (better performing) model that incorporates a dynamic threshold that lowers with sample size. We conclude that there is no evidence currently to suggest that humans benefit from taking a small sample, other than as a tactic for avoiding fatigue, overload, and/or opportunity cost-that is, there is no accuracy advantage inherent to small samples.     

伦理导向人力资源管理实践的跨层次作用机制:基于社会情境与社会认知理论

伦理 ¹( ¹ 与组织管理领域的常规做法一致, 本文将伦理与道德看作同义概念, 交替使用。)危机给企业经营带来巨大挑战, 现有文献较多关注微观视角的伦理行为, 缺乏从中观视角对人力资源管理制度开展研究, 导致在实践上无法形成有效的制度化抓手。人力资源管理实践作为中观视角的企业伦理实践之一, 正是针对伦理问题的有效回应。立足于人力资源管理与企业伦理领域的交叉点, 从三个方面构建伦理导向人力资源管理实践的研究框架:(1)基于社会情境理论探讨伦理导向人力资源管理实践对组织伦理绩效的影响机制; (2)基于社会认知理论探讨伦理导向人力资源管理实践对团队伦理建言的跨层次影响机制; (3)基于社会认知理论探讨伦理导向人力资源管理实践对个体伦理建言的跨层次影响机制。研究将丰富人力资源管理理论, 并为企业有效实施伦理导向人力资源管理实践提供启示与帮助。     

Implicit Affect Primes Effort: Basic Processes,Moderators, and Boundary Conditions

This article informs about the implicit‐affect‐primes‐effort (IAPE) model – a theory on the impact of implicit affect on resource mobilization – and research testing this account. Beside basic influences of implicitly processed affective stimuli on behavior, this article highlights moderators and boundary conditions of this process. The IAPE model posits that affect primes implicitly activate mental representations of affective states containing information about performance ease and difficulty. This influences subjective task demand during performance, which determines effort. A series of experiments assessing implicit affect's impact on effort‐related cardiovascular response in cognitive tasks revealed replicated support for the IAPE model. Moreover, objective task difficulty and incentive moderated the effect of implicit affect on effort, and especially controlled processing of affect primes and activated concepts turned out to be boundary conditions.     

建议采纳的认知机制

决策者的认知特点, 以及决策过程中建议者,任务特征,环境因素等都会影响决策者的认知加工, 并最终影响建议采纳.目前建议采纳过程中的认知研究主要集中于决策者方面, 本文通过总结以往研究, 从决策者的认知风格,社会认知复杂性,认知策略以及情绪对认知的影响等四个方面, 系统阐述了认知对建议采纳的影响.同时, 结合态度改变理论,解释水平理论,具身认知理论以及认知失调理论等进一步讨论了建议采纳的认知发生机制, 并在此基础上初步构建了建议采纳认知机制模型.未来研究可进一步探讨决策者的认知灵活性,认知闭合需要等对建议采纳的影响, 以及建议提出的认知机制, 以丰富建议采纳领域研究.     

When what you say about others says something about you: Language abstraction and inferences about describers’ attitudes and goals

According to the linguistic category model ( [Semin and Fiedler, 1988] and [Semin and Fiedler, 1991]), a person’s behavior can be described at varying levels of abstraction from concrete (e.g., “Lisa slaps Ann”) to abstract (e.g., “Lisa is aggressive”). Research has shown that language abstraction conveys information about the person whose behavior is described (Wigboldus, Semin, & Spears, 2000). However to date, little research has examined the information that language abstraction may convey about describers themselves. In this paper, we report three experiments demonstrating that describers who use relatively abstract language to describe others’ behaviors are perceived to have biased attitudes and motives compared with those describers who use more concrete language.     

The missing link: A reply to Joseph Rychlak

We oppose Rychlak's (1991a, 1991b) claim that the view of mind entailed in artificial intelligence (AD and cognitive psychology is fundamentally at odds with Kelly's (1955) personal construct theory. Kelly's model and Al have much in common: They both are centrally concerned with representation, cognitive processes and their structure, and are ultimately empirical in their methodology. Many Al researchers have usefully embraced personal construct theory as a working conceptual framework, in this article, we examine Rychlak's assertions and identify several mistakes.     

认知神经科学的心理学理论价值

从认知神经科学面临的三个挑战--(1)神经科学是“还原” 的,不能完全解释一个人的心理活动过程;（2）认知神经科学无法真正解释人的心理与行为;（3）认知神经科学只能揭示出神经事件与认知活动或行为活动的相关性--入手来讨论其心理学理论价值,阐明认知神经科学在心理学研究中的重要地位及主流趋势。同时指出,认知神经科学只是心理学学科门类中的一种,它能解决的问题也只限于特定的范围,对它要有科学理性的认识和定位。     

The Influence of Culture, Community, and the Nested‐Self in the Stress Process: Advancing Conservation of Resources Theory

Conservation of Resources (COR) theory predicts that resource loss is the principal ingredient in the stress process. Resource gain, in turn, is depicted as of increasing importance in the context of loss. Because resources are also used to prevent resource loss, at each stage of the stress process people are increasingly vulnerable to negative stress sequelae, that if ongoing result in rapid and impactful loss spirals. COR theory is seen as an alternative to appraisal‐based stress theories because it relies more centrally on the objective and culturally construed nature of the environment in determining the stress process, rather than the individual's personal construel. COR theory has been successfully employed in predicting a range of stress outcomes in organisational settings, health contexts, following traumatic stress, and in the face of everyday stressors. Recent advances in understanding the biological, cognitive, and social bases of stress responding are seen as consistent with the original formulation of COR theory, but call for envisioning of COR theory and the stress process within a more collectivist backdrop than was first posited. The role of both resource losses and gains in predicting positive stress outcomes is also considered. Finally, the limitations and applications of COR theory are discussed.     

抑郁认知易感性应激模式的研究：起源、发展和整合

近年来,对抑郁易感性的研究,已经成为探寻抑郁心理病理的一个热点。文章介绍了抑郁易感性应激模型的相关定义、起源、及主要特点。介绍了在当代具有代表性的3个理论：（1）Abramson的抑郁无望理论;（2）Beck的认知易感理论;（3）双信息过程理论。尤其对抑郁认知易感性因素本身的起源、发展及影响因素进行了评述。最后,介绍了整合的抑郁认知易感性应激模型。在此基础上,提出了模型进一步完善和发展的方向     

Favourableness of leadership situations studied with information integration theory

In Fiedler's contingency theory, situation favourableness for leader depends upon three situational variables — Group Atmosphere, Task Structure and Position Power. Each variable is dichotomized as high or low to define a 2 × 2 × 2 factorial cube with eight octants, and correlations between leadership style and effectiveness are plotted against the octants. To place these octants along a one-dimensional scale of favourableness, Fiedler assumes that Group Atmosphere is most important and Position Power is least important, and that the situational variables combine according to an adding rule. In four judgmental experiments conducted during different periods of national emergency in India, favourableness of leadership situations was studied with the methods of Anderson's information integration theory. Results indicated (a) that relative importance of situational variables changed across situations, (b) that situational variables were averaged in judgment of situation favourableness, and (c) that spacing of octants on the horizontal axis according to their functional measurement values generated a considerably better bow-shaped curve for correlation between leadership style and effectiveness than was obtained with Fiedler's octant scale. Judgmental experiments seemed to have great potential for providing a more analytic approach to further work on contingency theory and leadership behaviour.     

认知负荷理论在教学设计中的应用及其启示

在教学设计中,认知负荷理论有助于激励学习者的学习活动、使之表现出良好的学习绩效。认知负荷理论主要依赖于以容量有限的工作记忆为核心的认知结构的支持。工作记忆包括相对独立的视觉、听觉信息加工单元,同时又与容量较大的长时记忆共同承担着对信息的贮存与理解。根据该理论,可以通过把多个信息单元编码成一个完整的认知图式,或通过自动化加工规则,或使用多媒介（多感觉通路）呈现形式等多种方法来设法规避工作记忆的有限性。此文总结了可通过样例学习增加适当的认知负荷的教育技巧,样例一精细化训练对于降低认知干扰及超负荷的影响,样例对学习者的认知负荷的影响,以认知负荷理论为基础的教学设计原则,以及基于认知负荷理论研发的教学设计在各方面业已取得的进展及其存在的问题与可能的发展趋势。     

Cognition and emotion from the ret viewpoint

This article discusses the considerable overlap between my own (R. S. Lazarus) and Albert Ellis' cognitive view of emotions. In discussing Ellis' approach, the hallmarks of a cognitive theory of emotion are identified. My own theory concerning the role of cognitive appraisal and coping in emotions is discussed as well as the crucial metatheoretical concepts of transaction and process. It is stretching things to say that Albert Ellis has presented a fully elaborated theory of emotion. Rather, he has achieved the beginnings of a good theory especially as applied to the pathology of emotional life and how to correct it. Most lacking is how the emotion process works from encounter to encounter, moment to moment. Irrational beliefs as structural, static variables do not adequately account for emotional flux nor adequately explain the content and intensities of the full range of positive and negative emotions. The present article is a condensed and updated version of a previously published chapter: Lazarus, R. S. Cognition and emotion from the RET viewpoint. In M.E. Bernard & R. DiGiuseppe (Eds.),Inside rational-emotive therapy (pp. 47–68). San Diego, CA: Academic Press.     

Expanding the boundaries of psychological resource theories

This article introduces JOOP's special section on expanding the boundaries of resource theories in occupational and organizational psychology. After an introduction of the most relevant resource theories and their current application in occupational and organizational psychology – key resource theories, conservation of resources theory, resource theory of social exchange, and selective optimization with compensation theory – the opportunities and challenges for future research are outlined, as well as the innovative trends emerging from the contributions in this special section.     

Evolutionary Neuroandrogenic Theory and Universal Gender Differences in Cognition and Behavior

A theory is proposed that predicts the existence of numerous gender differences in cognition and behavior. The basis for these expectations is the single assumption that females have evolved tendencies to form long term sociosexual alliances with a competent resource provisioner. This assumption is teamed with evidence that males are actually a variant on the female sex with brains masculinized in ways that help them respond to female mating preferences. To orchestrate male responses to female biases in mates, the theory asserts that androgens (male sex hormones) have two main effects on human brain functioning. One is a diminished sensitivity to most environmental stimuli. The other involves shifting cognitive functioning away from the left hemisphere toward a more even and task-specialized hemispheric distribution. Many of the cognitive and behavioral differences between males and females predicted by the theory are described.